Monday, January 2, 2017

January 2, 2017 Ridley's Believe It Or Not National Science Fiction Day

Ridley’s
Believe It Or Not For January 2, 2017 Looks like 2017 in
Chicago is going to be a deadly repeat of 2016 in which 762 victims were
murdered as 2017 opened with 3 homicides and 16 wounded; sadly being a black male
in Chicago is a very dangerous place to be; Turkey still has not identified the
cold blooded jihadist that killed 39 people at an Istanbul night club and
wounded 70 others; the Russian diplomats and operatives expelled in a typical Obama
“too little too late” move have arrived in Moscow as Trump continues to express
doubt over hacking of the DNC by Russians while expending precious political
capital he will need to undo the disasters of the Obama administration (for
starters how about approving Keystone XL and creating thousands of high paying
jobs); Obama is going to give his farewell address from Chicago (not sure what
he is going to talk about but given his delusional view of the world he
probably will extol how much better we are saddled with $20 trillion in debt
and safer with ISIS running rampant, North Korea to test an ICBM and Iran on a
path to nuclear weapons); Mariah Carey and Dick Clark Productions are in a snit
fit over her total disastrous performance in Times Square; on the sports front,
USC returns to the Rose Bowl to meet Penn State.

As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and
observances, a music link to the Bay City Rollers, factoids of interest
for this day in history, a relevant observation from Barry Goldwater coupled
with a video link to the infamous “Daisy ad” that destroyed his candidacy,
looking forward to enjoying the Word of
the Day, blessed with a positive attitude and secure
in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events
like birthdays, weddings, or anniversaries, you know that the Alaskanpoet
can provide you with a unique customized poem at a great
price tailored to the event and the recipient. You need only contact me
for details.

1.National Weigh In Day—after
celebrating way too much on New Year’s Eve and probably spending too much time
on New Year’s Day watching football and eating way too much, today is the day
to benchmark those resolutions to lose weight and enjoy more exercise by
weighing in to see how much you can lose and keep lost—obesity is not one’s
friend.

2.
National Science Fiction Day—celebrating
the genre of fiction that over the years has produced the reality of many of
our scientific achievements from putting a man on the Moon to the bionic
replacement parts of today; the day was chosen to honor one of the great science
fiction writers Isaac Asimov who was born on this day in 1920.

3.
Number One Song in 1976—celebrating
the number 1 song in 1976 on a run of 1 week in that position “Saturday Night”
by the Bay City Rollers. Here is a link to the Bay City Rollers performing (or
better yet screeching) the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBn2ux5vRHk

4.
Word of the Day—The
word of the day is “catoptromancy”
which is the art of foretelling the future by the use of a mirror; maybe if
someone can look at himself honestly in the mirror as opposed to delusional eyes
he would have a better chance to predict it (makes sense as if our president
were honest with himself, he would predict that his legacy will largely be flushed
down the toilet).

5. Count to Ten Forward and Backward—celebrating
the birth on this day in 1909 of noted conservative Barry Goldwater who
represented Arizona in the Senate for 30 years and whose candidacy for
presidency in 1964 was obliterated by attack ads of the Democrats including the
infamous “Daisy ad” that terrified voters that Barry Goldwater would cause a
nuclear war with the Soviet Union (only because of her arrogance that she could
not conceive of being defeated by Trump did Hillary not roll out a remake of
the “Daisy ad”): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-VzZQGWOqA

On this day in:

1. 533
Mercurius became Pope and was the first Pope to adopt a new name, becoming Pope
John II.

2. 1900
diplomat John Hay implemented the open door policy to promote trade with China
a door which to the tune of over a $300 billion trade deficit has turned into a
one way street which hopefully Trump will renegotiate.

3. 1920
in one of our total disregard for the Constitution moments in our history, the
second roundup of communists and anarchists known as the Palmer Raid occurred
led by J. Edgar Hoover, netting some 3,000 individuals who were in most cases
illegally arrested and detained although some 500 noncitizens were deported.

4. 1974
President Nixon signed legislation lowering the speed limit to 55 miles per
hour to conserve fuel during the OPEC oil embargo arising out of our support
for Israel during the Yom Kippur War.

5. 2016
in another example that Muslims are very likely to kill other Muslims, the Sunni
led Saudis executed Shiite Sheik Nimr al-Nimr and 46 others (tiring day for the
beheader) for seeking independence for Shiites in the Eastern Province of Saudi
Arabia.

Reflections on extremism and moderation still valid today, even more
so: “I
would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let
me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” Barry GoldwaterPlease enjoy
thepoems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you
like them, retweet andfollow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and
entertaining poems on my blogs—click on the links below. Go to www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com for Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—This Day In
History, poems to inspire, touch, emote, elate and enjoy and poems on
breaking news items of importance or go to Ridley's Believe It Or
Notfor just This Day in History.

About Me

Raised in a small fishing village in Alaska, Petersburg,in the 40's and 50's. Returned in the 60's to fish commercially on purse seiners for six summers. Graduate of Stanford class of 69 with great distinction, Yale Law School class of 72, For many years an experienced, efficient, and creative lawyer and adviser providing venture capital, corporate and transactional legal services to start-ups and emerging private and public companies. Published poet, customized poems for memorable events, creator of Ridley's Believe It Or Not--This Day in History (daily factoids, holidays, quotes and often a short poem), and daily tweets in 140 iambic bytes on news of day and in the process of publishing North to Alaska--Islands of Stability in Seas of Change. Contact me have created a unique customized poem for any memorable event or to impress a loved one networking events. mridley@octechlaw.com, www.octechlaw.com, linkedin.com/in/octechlaw.com, twitter.com/alaskanpoet,
www.alaskanpoetcommentator.blogspot.com, www.alaskanpoethistory.blogspot.com